Beyond Moldflow Insight

Service Pack 1 for Synergy 2014 is available

Summery of fixes:

1. The number of animation frames can be set greater than 100 and the animation viewed. When you exit the dialog, the number of frames will revert to the default and must be set manually, each time.
2. On European operating systems, which use a comma as the decimal separator, the create mold block function now works as expected.
3. tcode reference help is available on European operating systems.
4. Temperature, internal mold around a part insert (3D) in BEM-Cool now displays as expected.
5. Vault client check-in, check-out and undo check-out are all enabled and work as intended.
6. Administrator restrictions with Autodesk Simulation Moldflow 2014 on Win 7 and Win 8 systems, has been addressed to enable access to users without administrator rights.
7. .stp files are read correctly into all relevant Autodesk packages.

Note: Point no. 6 will fix the issue of the article below:

"User can not start Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® 2014 on Windows 7 without admin privileges"

How to get SP 1?

If you start Synergy an Auto update just pops up on the top right of the Synergy GUI:

User can not start Autodesk® Simulation Moldflow® 2014 on Windows 7 without admin privileges

  
Affected programs: Autodesk ^® Simulation Moldflow ^® Adviser and Autodesk ^® Simulation Moldflow ^® Synergy

 

Explanation:

Users may receive the above
message from Windows User Access Control (UAC) when they try to start Autodesk ^® Moldflow ^® Adviser 2014 or Autodesk ^® Moldflow^® Synergy 2014 on Windows 7.

This happens when UAC is set to a level other than “Never notify”. See example below.

Users who do have admin rights can change the UAC to a lower level to prevent the message from appearing. Please note that this change requires a reboot.

How to change UAC level

Users who do not have any admin rights will not be able to either confirm the message with “Yes” or change UAC settings. Hence they will not be able to start the program.

The issue will be addressed in Service Pack 1. The release date is not defined yet but it can be expected soon.

For the time being the workaround for users without any admin rights is using version 2013.

Changing Design Link Version in Older Moldflow Insight and Adviser versions to Access Free 2014 Capabilities

Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link is now a free product with full functionality implemented for the 2014 release. If you are a user that currently would like to use this free functionality but have not yet registered and upgraded to 2014, you can still access Design Link 2014 with your older versions of Insight and Adviser. Below I've detail exactly how to do this.

1. First you must install either Simulation Moldflow Synergy 2014 or Simulation Moldflow Adviser 2014. You don't need to register and setup your licenses (in case you have reasons for not upgrading yet as you should always upgrade when a new version is released) but the software does need installed as we don't have a standalone installation for Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2014.

2. After installing, you need to modify where your previous version looks for Design Link. The process is the same for both Insight and Adviser. The images below are taken from Insight 2013. First access the options as highlighted.

3. Once in the options, navigate to the External Applications tab and select the browse option next to the installation path provided.

4. This allows you to change the path to the mdl.exe application used. Here we're going to browse to the 2014 location. That location is

32-bit OS - C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2014\bin\mdl.exe

64-bit OS - C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2014\bin\mdl.exe

5. Hit Apply

Now when importing, the use of Design Link will be provided and will require no licensing to properly work. If you have never had access to Design Link before, ensure you refer to online help if you have any questions. If you have run with a specific version of Design Link before, you'll note that you now have access to more possible files as all functionality is included.

As noted above, we highly recommend that if you have not upgraded to the full Simulation Autodesk Moldflow 2014 version, you do so. That said, this new change with Design Link being free can be leveraged for use within legacy versions.

Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link Moving Forward

With the new release of Autodesk Simulation Moldflow 2014 products, there has been a significant change with respect to the Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link product. The post below details these changes and the relevant information with respect to this change.

General Information

All translators are now free. They no longer require a license to run, and there is no longer a separate installation for Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link. It is automatically installed when installing any of the following;

• Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Synergy
• Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Adviser
• CAD Doctor for Autodesk Simulation

All subscription and maintenance costs have been adjusted to reflect this change moving forward.

CAD Model Translators

With the consolidation of all the translators into one product last year, and this change this year as well as new interoperabilty the following products are covered.

This will allow the use of any of the following file types automatically with Autodesk Simulation Moldflow products:

Some of these files are only available for Insight (not Adviser) such as Alias and Rhino.

Technical Details

The installation location and files are still essentially the same. Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link is still just a 32-bit application and installs to the following location;

• 32-bit: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2014
• 64-bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2014

You'll note that there is no longer a LICPATH.lic file as this newest version does not use a license anymore.

This will be a beneficial move going forward for all of our customers.

Autodesk Simulation Moldflow 2014 Is Now Available

As of March 28, 2013 the new Autodesk Simulation Moldflow 2014 products are available. Over the coming days, as entitlements are fulfilled you should receive the relevant information including serial numbers, product keys, and access to the new installations on the Subscription Center. A few additional notes;

• New product orders processed as of yesterday will get the 2014 release shipped to them.
• Customers that get their product delivered per DVD will need to wait a few extra days for the DVD to be delivered to them.
• This years’ release does no longer contain Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link as a product. The CAD translators are now included within Synergy, Adviser and CAD doctor,  and are no longer available for sale or for subscription renewal.
• The release is currently available in English and Japanese. Customers that have their language in Subscription set to any other language than English or Japanese, will have to switch the language to either English or Japanese on the download page (see below) in order to see the product! 

• Customer will have several ways to download and install their product: Download Now, Browser Download and Install now. 

As with previous releases, once you receive your product serial numbers please contact our Registration and Activation group to get your new licenses generated. This can be done via phone (800-551-1490), email ([email protected]), or online (Register).

After you have your new product licenses, you can complete your product installation as well as configuration of your license service and begin using the Autodesk Simulation Moldflow 2014 products.

Potential Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2013 issue for Moldflow Scandium Users

Summary:

If you are currently a Moldflow Scandium user (labs build released in September to test new features) you'll note that the build recently stopped working. This is because we implement an expiration date in which the build shuts down. We have determined though, that this can cause a problem with Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link. It should first be noted that this is not a guarantee that an issue will occur, and the majority of users should see no problem.

Issue:

The cause of the issue stems from changes made to the Simulation Moldflow Design Link installation directory during the installation of Scandium. The installer for Scandium updates several files, and as such when the Scandium build expired, deactivated these files and have caused issues with Design Link working properly.

Resolution:

All that said, we do have a workaround to address this issue. Please follow the steps below;

• Uninstall Scandium 2013
• Go to the bin folder under where Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link is installed and remove all files with modified date signature of 7/25/2012.

Default location

64-bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2013\bin
32-bit: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2013\bin

• Go to Control Panel->Programs and Features (Add/Remove Programs on Windows XP) and double click Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Synergy 2013
• On the uninstall window that pops up, choose the option to Repair or Reinstall and select Repair
• After Synergy has been repaired, you can confirm via the installation directory for Design Link. The files deleted above will have been restored with either the FCS date (3/7/2012) or the SP1 date (5/1/2012)

This will address the process if you are experiencing this particular issue.

Hardware Certification

We offer Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight 2013 and 2012 Hardware Certification.

You want to spec a machine to run Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight 2013 and Autodesk Moldflow Insight 2012, and are looking for benchmarking guidance on different machine configurations to determine the best machine setup for cost and functionality?  This also includes the ability to interact with the user interface as well as utilize GPU functionality.

Latest Information:

We have certified seven more machines for ASMI 2013.  Please follow the link to see the machines that are certified.

Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link Deployment Limitation

There currently is an issue with the deployment option for Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2013. This is a new feature for the 2013 version, but there are two primary issues with it.

Issue 1:

The first issue is that the installer has the "Browse" option greyed out for modifying the installation path anywhere but the default. So if the plan is to deploy to a custom directory location, the installation path must be typed into the path rather than using the browse option.

Issue 2:

Simulation Moldflow Design Link won't allow installation to a custom path if Simulation Moldflow Insight 2013 or Simulation Moldflow Adviser 2013 have already been installed. This is because the new versions of Simulation Moldflow Insight 2013 and Simulation Moldflow Adviser 2013 install a free version of Design link by default in the default path. When attempting to install the paid version, to a custom location, it can't modify that initial configuration.

The workaround is to either install Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2013 first, or to uninstall other products and then install Simulation Moldflow Design Link 2013. If neither of those options is explored, then it will not be possible to install to a custom directory.

More information for the new 2013 Release

If you need information befor you start the installation or you like to get more after you had installed have a look here:

Info

You will find this topics: 

Product Information

Training Videos

Troubleshooting

Installation & Licensing

Documentation

New Release 2013 available now!

The new release got a new name: Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight. Also the flovor names have changed:

old	new
Basic	Standard
Performance	Premium
Advanced	Ultimate

Here is an overview about the new features:

Autodesk Vault integration

The ability to integrate with Autodesk Vault data management software products is now available at no cost for Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Adviser and Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight products. Autodesk Vault products organize, manage, and track data creation, simulation, and documentation processes for design and engineering workgroups.

Improved Autodesk Inventor Fusion software available

Autodesk Inventor Fusion software is a fully fledged, history-free CAD modeler that is included at no additional cost with the Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Adviser and Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight products. The Autodesk Inventor Fusion product now allows you to modify part geometry even more efficiently, regardless of the CAD system in which it was created or the existence of parametric relationships in the model.

Additional license-free CAD formats available for import

Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight, Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Adviser, and Autodesk Simulation Moldflow CAD Doctor Products now can import Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Alias, and SAT files, without having to install an additional product or requiring an additional license.

Consolidated Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link available

Additional CAD import formats are available through a newly consolidated, licensed version of Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Design Link.

Autodesk Simulation Moldflow CAD Doctor update

A solid CAD model which has been read into Autodesk Simulation Moldflow CAD Doctor can now be exported as a solid model included in a Study (*.sdy) file. These Study files then can be imported into Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Insight or Autodesk Simulation Moldflow Adviser.

Improved user interface efficiency

Enhancements have been implemented to significantly improve the performance of the graphical user interface.

Crystallization analysis option for Midplane and Dual Domain analyses of Thermoplastics Injection Molding applications
An option to perform Crystallization analysis has been implemented for analyses of the Thermoplastics Injection Molding process using Midplane and Dual Domain analysis technology. Modeling the flow-induced crystallization and morphological changes of semi-crystalline materials can improve the accuracy of prediction of cavity pressure decay and the mechanical properties of the molded parts, and subsequent shrinkage and warpage predictions.

Transient Cool (FEM) solver enhanced to support Dual Domain models and additional molding processes
The transient mold temperature analysis options have been expanded to include the Reactive Molding and Microchip Encapsulation processes for 3D analysis technology. Support for Dual Domain models is now also included for the Thermoplastics Injection Molding process. For those systems with an installed CUDA-enabled GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) card capable of double precision computations, the software will now automatically use it to improve the analysis time.

Fiber breakage calculation option available for analyses of long-fiber filled thermoplastic materials
The option to Calculate fiber breakage is now available when performing a Fiber orientation analysis if the selected material is a long-fiber filled composite.

Fiber orientation analysis option extended to 3D analyses using thermoset composite materials

The option to perform Fiber orientation analysis if fiber material has been implemented for analyses of Reactive Molding and Microchip Encapsulation processes using 3D analysis technology. This enables the same fiber orientation model options that were previously implemented for 3D analyses of thermoplastics molding processes.

3D Microchip Encapsulation improvements for Wire Sweep and Paddle Shift analyses

For Wire Sweep analyses of Microchip Encapsulation processes using 3D analysis technology, it is now possible to assign multiple wire material properties in the same model to better represent actual wire types used in manufacturing. In addition, new analysis sequences combining Paddle Shift (or Dynamic Paddle Shift) with Wire Sweep in the same sequence are available.

Solver enhancements address accuracy and speed

Enhancements have been implemented to improve the performance of analysis solvers.

Matelial database changes

Changes to the material database that have been implemented since the release of Autodesk Moldflow 2012, Service Pack 1, are summarized here.